Ahmedabad, Mar 12 (UNI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of Rs 85,000 crore railway projects.
He also flagged off 10 new Vande Bharat trains virtually from Ahmedabad, taking the total number of semi-high-speed trains across the country to over 50.
The railway is currently running 41 Vande Bharat trains spanning 24 states.
The 10 new Vande Bharat trains are between Ahmedabad-Mumbai Central, Secunderabad-Visakhapatnam, Mysuru-Dr. MGR Central (Chennai), Patna-Lucknow, New Jalpaiguri-Patna, Puri-Visakhapatnam, Lucknow-DDehradun, Kalaburagi-SSir M Visvesvaraya Terminal Bengaluru, Ranchi-Varanasi, Khajuraho-Delhi (Nizamuddin).
The Prime Minister also flagged off the extension of four Vande Bharat trains, including Ahmedabad-Jamnagar. Vande Bharat is being extended to Dwarka, Ajmer, and Delhi. Sarai Rohilla Vande Bharat is being extended till Chandigarh; Gorakhpur-Lucknow Vande Bharat is being extended till Prayagraj; and Thiruvananthapuram-Kasargod Vande Bharat is being extended till Mangaluru; and two new passenger trains between Asansol and Hatia and Tirupati and Kollam stations.
He also flagged off freight trains on the dedicated Freight Corridor from various locations, including New Khurja Junction, Sahnewal, New Rewari, New Kishangarh, New Gholvad, and New Makarpura.
Speaking at the event, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, "The network of Vande Bharat trains has reached over 250 districts, and the government is consistently expanding the route of Vande Bharat trains.".
"We are working towards 100% electrification of railways. We are also planning for railway stations to run on electricity generated by using solar power," he said.
PM Modi noted that the development of railways is one of the top priorities of our government, saying the average railway budget in the last 10 years increased by six times".
He further added that the government has completely transformed the landscape of the railway sector, and we increased the average railway budget six times as compared to the budget before 2014.
Talking about the development work carried out by the government, PM Modi said the new construction for developed India is continuously expanding, and in the year 2024, projects worth more than Rs 11 lakh crore have been inaugurated and the foundation stone has been laid.
"In the last 10–12 days alone, projects worth more than Rs 7 lakh crore have been inaugurated and foundation stones laid," he added.
The prime minister also assured that in the next 5 years you will see a transformation of Indian Railways that you would not have even imagined.
Calling the rejuvenation of railways a guarantee of a developed India, PM Modi said, "Today, new reforms are taking place in railways at an unprecedented pace.".
"Rapid construction of new railway tracks, modernization of more than 1300 railway stations, next-generation trains like Vande Bharat, Namo Bharat, and Amrit Bharat, modern railway engines, and coach factories—all these are changing the picture of Indian Railways in the 21st century," he added.
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